Greggs on a roll as sales soar over Christmas

Shares in Greggs have rocketed again this morning as the bakery chain reported a “very strong” finish to 2014 and said its full-year results would beat previous expectations.

Like-for-like sales at the high street favourite increased by 8.2% for the five weeks to 3 January, compared with a rise of 3.1% a year ago, as its food-on-the-go focused product range struck a chord with customers.

The bakery retailer’s shares jumped more than 5% in early trading to 788.05p.

Greggs CEO Roger Whiteside said there was a growth in sales of sandwiches, sausage rolls and coffee. He added that its ‘balanced choice’ range of products, with fewer than 400 calories, continued to grow and new products such as fresh soups and a steak and cheese roll were well received.

“Customers have clearly responded to the improvements in our product offer and service, designed to meet the needs of the food-on-the-go consumer, during this busy period,” Whiteside said.

“This has been a year in which we have made good progress with our strategic plans and seen a welcome improvement in financial performance. We remain clear on our priorities and are confident that we can make further progress in the year ahead.”

Like-for-like sales in the three weeks to 3 January rose by 9.3%, with total sales for the five-week trading period growing by 7.6%. For the 2014 financial year, revenue climbed by 5.5% with like-for-like sales up by 4.5%.

Greggs expects to report better-than-forecasted results for the year following the strong finish to the year. In a trading update in December the chain said its profits would be ahead of analysts’ expectations of £54m. Since then the City has upped its estimate to £59m.

“Conditions for the first half of 2015 look encouraging with low input cost inflation expected along with an improved outlook for disposable incomes,” the company stated. “In the year ahead we will continue to implement our plan to reshape the business to compete more effectively in the food-on-the-go market and create a strong platform for sustainable long-term growth.”